Did you ever feel as though things are upside down with the media and what people think is important? I sure do. So, when Mike Wood sent me a short piece he had written, it connected completely with me, and it's a great explanation of why many of us often feel a bit confused, and often disconnected to what the collective wisdom appears to be.

If you are familiar with the Superman Bizzaro World, where good is bad, up is down, etc., you'll get it.
~Tom

On Fascism and Kryptonite By Mike Wood

When I was a kid, I was more interested in gun magazines than comic books, but there was one comic book that made a strong enough impression that I remember it even now.

In this particular edition, our hero Superman traveled to an upside-down planet known as Bizarro World, in which everything we’re accustomed to is grotesquely reversed. In Bizarro World, good is bad, and bad is good. Ugly is beautiful, the worthless is prized, and the nonsensical is normal.

While it was intended to be entertaining, I thought Bizarro World’s reverse polarity of reality was disturbing—enough so, that the troublesome concept lingered in my thoughts long after the comic book had disappeared.

Reality imitating art

Fast forward more than four decades, and I sometimes wonder if I’ve awakened in that backwards, alternate reality. As I consider life in modern day America, I can't seem to shake the feeling that somewhere along the way, the wires got crossed and the current was reversed. The America that I grew up in was so fundamentally different from today's version, that I sometimes have to question if the two even share a relation. Did I somehow manage to miss a grand, cleverly-concealed, “bait and switch” of American culture, language, and values?

Anti-what?

Take the recently defined “Antifa” movement, for example. These self-anointed “anti-fascists” have made a big splash as the masked face of a protest movement that seeks to block the advancement of a “fascist” political agenda in the United States by way of force. Their violent and destructive pattern of rioting, uncivil protest, and outright criminality has captured the imagination and admiration of many on the political Left, particularly those who oppose the policies of the current President of the United States, and his party.

Yet, even the most cursory of examinations reveals the incongruity of the movement. For starters, the angry, masked mob doesn't seem to understand how to define what it is that they're in opposition to. Consider the Merriam-Webster definition of “Fascism:”

A political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

One might wonder where such “fascism” is present in the American political spectrum? Where is the “fascism” that the trophy generation thugs have sworn to oppose with tantrums of violence?

Don't look here . . .

It's certainly not in the White House. For those who missed it, President Trump was elected to office by the American voters in a free and democratic election, and serves at their pleasure. He did not wrest power by force, nor subvert the system to attain his position. He simply delivered a more appealing message and platform to the majority of America (at least the part that wasn't too lazy to vote). He maintains the office at the will of The People, not by force of arms, and if The People decide he has failed to live up to their expectations, he will be removed from office as quickly and as peacefully as he was placed there.

So much for a “centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader.”

. . . or here

The President campaigned on a platform dedicated to removing the burdens of excessive government on The People. He promised income tax reform, an end to the penalizing and economy-wrecking Obamacare, and renegotiated international agreements that would restore American competitiveness. He promised job creation, a resurgent industrial base, and the liberation of the private sector economic engine from the firm grasp of government control, all of which would improve the quality of life for Americans—all Americans, regardless of class, social status, race, or gender.

So much for “severe economic and social regimentation.”

Orwellian dreams

The supreme disconnect of the Antifa movement is that it maintains President Trump is the “fascist” they oppose, despite the fact that he demonstrates none of the foundational attributes of a fascist. Yet, in a strange, Bizarro World-like twist, the “anti-fascists” are the ones most likely to think and act like fascists.

It's the “anti-fascists” and their political partners who would seek to split America up into racial subgroups that can be pitted against each other. The link between the oft-racist Black Lives Matter movement (factions of which have promoted attacks on whites, particularly white police officers) and Antifa has been ably demonstrated. If any group in contemporary American politics could be seen as “exalting race above the individual,” it would seem to be this collaboration of forces.

And while Antifa wont to decry the oppression of the state, the sad truth of our current state of affairs is that the state has been content, for the most part, to standby and watch as the masked thugs have rioted, vandalized, burned, and looted their way through urban America. The police have been directed to “give them space” to wage their destruction, and they largely have, ceding entire portions of major cities to the excited mayhem.

The “forcible suppression of opposition” in America has been coming not from the Right, but from the Left. It's the Left, with Antifa as the shock troops, who has repeatedly used violence to prevent conservatives from speaking before crowds that invited them. It's the Left who has thrown the rocks to break up the Free Speech rallies, and assaulted people for wearing Trump-logo clothing. It's the Left who has chummed the waters to summon the monsters that would shoot police officers across America, and citizens in Fresno, California, because they were white, and baseball-playing Congressmen in Alexandria, Virginia, because they were Republican.

It's the Left that pushes gun control in America, a proposition that, at its core, threatens to use the power and force of the state against citizens who exercise a fundamental, constitutionally-protected and recognized, natural right of Man.

Remind me again who the fascists are?

Inside The Ministry of Truth

In the Bizarro World of the Left, having a moral code is immoral, a human’s gender is subject to interpretation, law abiding gun owners are responsible for criminal violence, and an election is only legitimate if their candidate wins. In Left World, fascism no longer resides on the right end of the political spectrum, and the only reliable indicator of a fascist, is whether or not they don the black hoodie and mask of an “anti-fascist.”

It’s enough to confuse even Superman.

Mike Wood is a "gun guy" and Patriot who often jokes that he's a "freedom fighter trapped behind enemy lines" in crazy, anti-gun California. He's an Endowment Member of the National Rifle Association, a Life Member of the California Rifle & Pistol Association and Second Amendment Foundation, and a member of CalGuns. As an NRA-certified instructor, Mike enjoys introducing new shooters to the fascinating, fun, and rewarding world of firearms. If you're a revolver fan, you might enjoy his articles over at www.RevolverGuy.com. Mike also is the author of the excellent book "Newhall Shooting: A Tactical Analysis," about a seminal event in the development of defensive tactics for law enforcement and citizens serious about self protection.